paume

Forms

paume f (plural paumes)^[1] Old French palme (about 1050), then paume (1160–1174); Middle French paulme.^[2][3][1] The form palme is still found in Lamartine.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French palme, inherited from Latin palma (“palm of the hand”).^[2][3][5] Wiktionary traces the Latin word to Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂meh₂.^[1] It is a doublet of palme, the palm leaf.^[1][6]

Cognate with Italian palma, Occitan pauma, Spanish palma and Romanian palmă.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as palme in the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050), meaning the inside of the hand, the palm.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy it named a measure of length equal to a hand's breadth (about 1170, Chrétien de Troyes).^[2][3] In carpentry it is the oblique cut at the end of a rafter or purlin by which it is joined to another (1535, in Picard).^[2][3]

Above all it entered jeu de la paume (1355), later jeu de paume (1552), the game being so called because it was first played with the palm of the hand before bats and rackets were used;^[3][2][10] a Latin text of 1356 calls it lusus pilae cum palma.^[10][8] By metonymy jeu de paume also named the court where it was played (1552), as in the serment du Jeu de paume, and paume the game itself.^[3] Longue paume (1585) and courte paume (1680) were distinguished.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Palme “palm of the hand” appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[2]
• 1160–1174 – Wace writes paume.^[2][3]
• c. 1170 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for a measure of length.^[2]
• 1355 – Jeu de la paume is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1535 – The carpentry sense appears.^[2]
• 1552 – Estienne records jeu de paume, also for the court.^[2][3]
• 1585 – Noël du Fail writes jouer à la longue paume.^[2]
• 1680 – Richelet records courte paume.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The palm of the hand: une pièce dans la paume.^[2][6]
2. (carpentry) A half-lap joint between two pieces, cut straight (paume carrée) or obliquely (paume grasse).^[6][9]
3. (sports) Real tennis, jeu de paume, in which a ball is struck over a net, first with the hand and later with a racket.^[6][1]
4. Jeu de paume: the court where this game is played.^[2][3]

Word family

• paumer
• empaumer
• paumelle

Related words

• palme
• Latin palma

Usage notes

Littré records siffler en paume, to whistle through the hollow of the hand, and its use as a measure of a horse's height, the height of a closed fist.^[8] In some provinces paume was also the ball used in the game.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 507b
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France